


Gleam In His Eye

by KingAlanI



Category: Hunger Games (2012), Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-21
Updated: 2013-04-02
Packaged: 2017-12-06 16:05:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/737553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingAlanI/pseuds/KingAlanI
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>By Alan Gilfoy in the world of Suzanne Collins. Gale's Hunger Games from Cato's perspective. He was born to win and now has his chance, but one of his female counterparts presents a potent distraction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Selection

A couple centuries ago, the world had been battered by natural disasters and the subsequent wars. The Capitol brought order to the land surrounding it – a northern continent divided into thirteen districts and now called Panem. The districts dared to break out in open rebellion decades ago. All paid the price; District 13 was entirely obliterated as punishment for instigating the defiance. The surviving districts were to be reminded every year – 24 people aged twelve to eighteen, a boy and a girl from each district, would fight to the death. One survived and was well rewarded, emblematic of the Capitol’s mercy. They showed restraint in not killing more.

 

Tomorrow was the big day, when the contestants of the 74th Hunger Games were determined. Here in District Two, it was unnecessary to select someone at random – there were so many volunteers that there was competition to receive the honor. We had many past victors, and they determined who’d get a chance to join them.

 

            It was an open secret that we trained for the Games. District Two was a cluster of similar small settlements, and our training grounds were one of many hollowed-out quarries up a mountain path. However, the seemingly nondescript route was ingrained in my memory by now. On the way there, I found my father’s grave just as easily – he was in the tribute cemetery, having died in the Games soon after getting my mother pregnant with me.I became aware of the family history years ago, and I promptly resolved that I’d do what he couldn’t. This was my last year of eligibility, and I was confident I could pull it off. I touched his headstone and said, “I won’t be joining you any time soon.”

 

A few other candidates filtered into the chamber after I arrived. Mom and I lived in a nondescript townhouse, but this place would feel like my home even after I moved to Victors Village. Lyme, the amazon who won the 42nd Games, stepped forward as leader of our victors. “For the boys, this is obviously Cato Adams’ year. For the girls, we’ve decided on Clove Hawkins.” _I wouldn’t have actual siblings, but Clove was like a sister to me sometimes._

 

Brutus offered the rest of us an option we were already aware of. “For the rest of you, there is the Peacekeeper corps – this goes for the women too.” Lyme winced at this mention of Panem’s military police. I’m not sure why - somebody’s gotta do it, keep us safe and secure.

 

Then he got back to talking about the Games. “Looks to me like District Two will have a victor twice in a row again.” He won the year after Lyme, the last consecutive pair from Two. We had a fair amount of single victors since then. Brutus was very competitive, much of which had rubbed off on me. He must feel slighted by the last consecutive pair coming from another district, Gloss and Cashmere of One in 63 and 64.

 

            “Hi there, Mr. Adams.” Clove smiled at me, like most young women with functional eyesight. Appealing to the ladies was a very nice side effect of bulking up for the Games. “I told you, you’re like a _sister_ to me, and we’re not like those hicks from the outer districts that could be both.” _Three years younger than me. Didn’t hurt the eyes, but wasn’t easy on them either. Besides, she was crazy – working with Enobaria can do that to you._

 

            The night before, Mom offered one last challenge, but she still mostly understood that this was my destiny. “Are you still sure now that the fateful hour has actually come?”

            “Yes, and why wouldn’t I be confident?”

            “I just don’t want to lose another man this way.”

            “Don’t worry.”

 

            The rules of the Games allowed tributes to bring a piece of home into the arena. Dad had used a gold coin with the District Two seal from his birth year. I don’t know where it went; it had probably been buried with him. It would have been callous to spend it, yet it would have been hard on Mom to keep it around. I found a similar coin dated with my birth year.

 

            With the volunteers arranged beforehand, the actual ceremony was usually fairly uneventful. Mayor Patrick Lazare reminded us of the importance of the Games. A Capitol official would lead us through the selection of tributes. It was Bertlynn again, what a short lardass, and it looked like someone had sprayed red dye all over his cheeks.

 

He went to pick a name at random. I zoned out. We knew it was just a formality – even the person selected didn’t care. Clove was reaped anyway. “I decline any volunteers,” she said, essentially volunteering for herself. Her brother Alexander hadn’t made the cut for the Games a few years ago. He was now in the Peacekeeper corps, serving in District 2’s Home Guard. I think he looked forward to escorting his sister to glory, and it showed.

 

            I couldn’t wait for my moment, so I stepped forward to volunteer before Bertlynn even picked the person I’d volunteer for. What the heck, saves us some time.

 

“And the honor of representing District 2 in the 74th Annual Hunger Games goes to Clove Hawkins and Cato Adams! Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!” For thirteen people from our district, the odds were in their favor. Most of them were still alive, and they led the district in applauding its brave youngsters. I noticed Lyme’s clapping was somewhat perfunctory.

 

            I didn’t have a fling right now, so no goodbye sex and no possibility of a little Cato from it. I’ve been focused on training for the Games anyway. There’d be plenty of opportunity for that afterwards.

 

Most of my social circle was fellow Career trainees. Some were jealous that I’d been chosen instead. Others came by out of professional respect, but I don’t think I had any real friends amongst them.


	2. First Ride In

It wasn’t much of a train ride – Two was close to the Capitol literally as well as metaphorically. However, I still had plenty of time to enjoy my first ride in. The food was even better than what we got at home. Brutus said, “Get used to it, ladies and gentlemen. But after lunch, we’re going to have to get down to business.”

 

            The District 1 reaping had already taken place, so we watched it on tape. Holy shit, Glimmer was something else. Her blonde hair curled down to way past her shoulders and I bet I wasn’t the first guy to have her green eyes stare into him. She was tall for a woman, but I still had several inches on her, and I intended to put several inches in her.  Her district partner, Marvel, was about my height, but had nowhere near my bulk.

 

            “I can take him in a fight. I will be taking her in bed.”

            “No raping!” _Yeah, I think that would count as tributes fighting before the Games._

            “I’m not like that, I do have some standards, but do you mean to imply that someone would turn me down?”

            “Cut it out. Clove and Enobaria are _right there_.” _Don’t care_.

            “I sure wouldn’t.”

            “Clove, we’ve been over this…”

 

            Nothing else stood out until the later districts. The crippled boy from Ten would be especially easy to beat up. The little girl from Eleven made me wonder if I can pull off a 70-pound shotput. Her district partner would be a problem, though. Then…“Volunteers from Twelve? What the hell? The guy has a chance, but the girl is screwed.”

            Enobaria cut me off. “Everdeen. Hawthorne. They both took the hit for younger siblings. Don’t underestimate the insane things that someone will do in the name of love.”

            “You may be single, but you do know crazy.” _And that’s_ why _you’re single, but I knew better than to say that_.

 

            Now it was Brutus’ turn to talk to me alone. With Clove and Enobaria somewhere else, we could be even more honest about the Glimmer situation. “Don’t get distracted ‘cause you’re thinking with your dick.”

            “If I try and ignore it, I’m going to be more distracted. And this would be an interesting way for the Career alliance to play out.”

 

            The train had already picked up tributes from District Three to the west. Our cars were blocked off – tributes would not meet until after Capitol arrival. However, we were almost there. The train station was pretty empty; tribute trains were the station’s only business on Reaping Day. The display of pending arrivals listed 7/6/5 from the northwest, 4/10 and 11/9 from the southeast, and 12/8 from the east. Glimmer must have already gotten here; where was she?

 

            There was a building near the station where we met our stylists and prep teams.

            “Hey! I like my beard!”

            “No, you’re just too lazy to shave, and now I’m doing that for you.”

            I could mete out and receive violence all day, but I couldn’t stand being fussed with. I was glad when my outfit showed up – awesome gold armor with a winged helmet; Clove had something similar in her much smaller size. “This is great, we’ll look badass for the crowds, but isn’t it a bit impractical?”

            “What, you don’t want to show off your arms?”

            “ _I_ don’t mind.” _I kinda expected Clove to say that…_

            “Okay you two, just hang around and wait for the chariots.”

While waiting for those vehicles, we saw some of the other tributes in person for the first time. The District 10 cowboy was involved in a pathetic attempt to swagger with a limp. Our District 4 allies looked like the sea of their district. 12 still looked like coal, but different than usual. 11 was wearing work clothes with a crown of barbed wire. Thresh stared me down, and I returned the favor. Everything before the Games was done in District numerical order. In this case, that meant I got a good look at Glimmer. Making her look good was not difficult, and it was obvious she enjoyed playing dress up.

 

A Peacekeeper interrupted my thoughts. “Chariots are almost here, ladies and gentlemen.” Looking outside, I saw dark carts pulled by dark horses. “Simply climb right up and hold on.” The carts had open backs and front handles, so this was easy enough to do. The horses soon took off and the ride didn’t take long. The end of the road was surrounded by seats full of ecstatic Capitolites, cheering for the tributes.

 

I joined half of the crowd in going nuts for Glimmer; my voice was lost in the glorious chaos. I tried to raise my hand along with Clove’s despite our height difference of nearly a foot. I noticed Glimmer seemed to be ignoring her district partner. Once we turned around at the end, I got a good look at the audience and the other districts. I swear, Glimmer was smiling at everybody but especially at me. Thresh has a chance, at least for 11, but isn’t acting like it. What’s with him? But what the hell, Twelve looks like they’re on fire. The crowd is going nuts for a couple of mine rats. We’re better than that, and I thought the Capitol was better than that too.

 

I recognized Caesar Flickerman in the balcony. He was a legend in Capitol media for his coverage of the Games. This year he looked blue. He was just finishing an interview with Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane. “Thank you, Mr. Crane. I hope the Games are as exciting as you anticipate. I just love how clever the stylists are each year, reflecting the character of each district. And now for a word from our President.”

 

Flickerman and Crane left the platform as Coriolanus Snow entered. Our glorious leader’s words were more inspired than Mayor Lazare’s recitation of the usual spiel. He closed his speech with the classic lines, “Welcome to the 74th annual Hunger Games. Tributes, you have the honor of representing your districts’ loyalty to the Capitol. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor.”

 

This arena was at the base of the training center. A few days of showing off and watching the others at work wouldn’t hurt. Appropriately, District Two got the second floor. Bertlynn’s greeting was functional: “Nice job. Be ready for dinner back down here in forty-five.”

 

Guess who else was on the elevator? The District One team! Glimmer was very forward. “Cato. I’ll be seeing you at dinner … and afterwards.” My mouth opened, but no words were coming out. _Exactly what I was looking for, before I even had a chance to say anything. Jackpot!_

“You got that right.” I winked, and her smile got even brighter. She’d soon see Clove throw daggers; right now, Miss Hawkins was staring them.

 

Someone brought up our clothes from home, but also our uniforms for the rest of training. Black, silver and red with our district numbers. Alright then.

 

“Ready?” _You know we are, Bertie._

“I’ve been pumped for this most of my life, and Clove too – let’s go!”

Nothing much to do here – might as well get there early.I saw Glimmer in the hallways; evidently she was thinking the same thing. “Pleasure seeing you again – the more I see of you, the better. Can barely think of anything besides your hot self since the reaping recaps.”

“You’re real easy on the eyes yourself, big boy.” _You think I’m big now? You just wait._

“ _Those_ eyes? I figured a District One woman would shine like gems.” My hands fell to her waist, which couldn’t have felt more natural. I attacked her mouth with mine, and we could have kept up the tongue-wrestling all day, but we did have a dinner to attend to.

 

The dining hall had just a few long tables, to keep the tributes in close proximity. One of the officials said, “The entrance to the training rooms is over there. Be there by ten tomorrow morning.”

 _I’ve seen the Training Center on tape a bazillion times. And I’ve got a hot date tonight._ “Hey lady, cut the crap. I’m starving.”

Hawthorne, already on my shit list, decided to tell me off. “You have no idea! Try feeling empty even after tesserae and get back to me on that!” _The Capitol gave you extra food if you took extra reaping entries. We wanted to be in the Games, and didn’t bother with that handful of garbage grain and obnoxious oil. Some at home did it, maybe some quarryworker’s urchins._ The poor districts depended on that act of mercy; Gale’s district partner and some other tributes joined him in being ungrateful bastards.

 

Once we were finally loosed on the buffet table, I joined my District 4 comrades in heaping up a plate of fish. On our way to sit down and eat, I whispered to Glimmer “I know what I’m having for dessert” and it was perfectly understood. We Careers gathered at one end of the table. Clove was devouring a steak; the knife practically blurred in her hand. I saw Gale stride over towards our territory. Glimmer let out a smooth greeting, and he ignored that.

 

            Alex said, “Ten sent a cripple, Eleven sent a mute, did Twelve send a blind man?”

            Marvel piled on, “Nah, he knows she’s out of his league.” Glimmer dismissively flipped her hair while telling Marvel he wasn’t one to talk. _You could cut the sexual tension with a knife, but I didn’t want to give Clove any ideas._

            I told them to calm down. “Knock it off. Twelve has good tributes for once.” _I have a feeling Katniss is more dangerous than she looks._   “You over here because you want in on our alliance?”

Hawthorne was dismissive again in turning down the offer. “Definitely not. At least you recognize we’re not to be trifled with.”

 

In a few days I’d be killing some of them, and I looked forward to it, except for _her_. I threw my dishes at the Avoxes and started thinking about the rest of the evening.


	3. The Feeling Is Mutual

“Your place or mine?” she whispered in her sexy voice.

            I didn’t really care, so I responded with “Yours is fine.” _Strong and tall, I’ve rocked them all. I have discerning taste, never had to hook up with a butterface, but Glimmer makes them all look dimmer._

 

            I ran up to the District Two apartment. Bertie tried to stop me to talk business, but I drew my hand across my throat and he got the message. Brutus tossed me a thumbs up while Clove and Enobaria glared at me.

 

            Glimmer and I both knew we’d have to put our looks out there for the sponsors. Neither of us expected jealousy or intended to be too affectionate in public.

 

            I went down a floor and started banging on her door. I heard her mumbling in response.

            “It’s Cato, and I think you know exactly why I’m here.”

            She flung the door open. “Yes, yes I do. Go on, get what you came here for.” I didn’t need much prompting. I ripped the tribute uniform off her and then dropped my pants. She said “Hello!”, then whistled and made an obscene gesture with her hands.

            “No steroids, baby, these muscles are all natural.” I flexed as I said this, and she sure didn’t seem to be complaining.

            I was rather pleased with myself as I threw her onto the bed. It hadn’t taken much effort; while she was thin, she was still heavy by the standards of a track and field object. She landed with a satisfying thud and her chest jiggled along with the mattress. I had forgotten to take off my shirt, and once I did, she seemed quite happy about that too. She was getting impatient, and said “I’m glad we’re on the same side! I just wish this could last longer.” _Lasting long won’t be a problem._ “Only one of us comes out of the Games alive…that’s gonna be hard, but there’s something else that needs to come hard right now.” She seemed to be in a state of lustful abandon, thrusting her hips forward while spreading her legs. _I’d show her. I went in with one thrust. Some squeals confirmed that she did indeed like it rough. She wanted it, she was gonna get it, and I was glad to give it to her._ Several minutes later, I felt myself about to go off and started to pull back. “No, stay right there.” And so she was filled.

            I think I spoke for both of us with a drawn out “Holy shit!”

            “I’m not going without my fix tomorrow night, but you can have home-field advantage next time.” _If I get to do this again, I don’t care where._

            I kissed her and it was no chaste goodnight peck. I threw on enough of my clothes to appear decent for the walk back to the District Two apartment. I high-fived Brutus while Clove and Enobaria stared at me. I walked back into my bedroom ready to pass out when the recent memory came back to make me rock-hard again. Drained from the evening, my powerful right arm muscles got a workout in the time it took to achieve my release. What the hell, I needed a shower anyway. At home, I would have stumbled to bed without a towel. Here, the full body air dryer took care of that for me.

 

            I looked crisp as usual in next morning’s tribute uniform set. Today we get to play with the weapons! And I get to work another spear at night. (I like javelins. I like taking care of Soldier Adams more.)

 

            Eager for battle, we rushed to the training center. Head Trainer Atala was serious as well she should be, but some of her information was rather basic to us Careers. “No fighting with other tributes before you enter the arena! Our assistants can spar with you if desired.” _I know that, but I would have liked to challenge Thresh or Gale to a duel or wrestling match right here and now_.

Christopher, the boy from Five, interrupted her. “Miss Atala, what if somebody attacks us with a pointed stick?” _I hit Glimmer with my stick last night._

“As I said, the spear station is right behind me…Don’t dismiss survival skills. Many tributes die of exposure, not in combat. The arena environment could be anything.” _Whatever, the good districts get the good stuff from the Cornucopia and the good sponsors. Now we could get started._

 

 _Sword time!_ I ran towards those while I saw Miss Twelve running towards the archery range on the other side of the room. I certainly made an impression as I hacked through dummies like it was nothing, like I was born to do, but I don’t get to make real kills for another four days. Twelve could shoot, but I could throw a spear nearly as far. When I decided to demonstrate that, I found Marvel with me at the javelin station. I was as good with my secondary weapon as he was with his primary. Clove enthusiastically took to throwing knives like expected. Evidently Glimmer liked unranged blades. When Gale took to the clubs and weights, he didn’t look so impressive after all. _What’s your game, Hawthorne?_

 

            Lunchtime. I did like hitting the cafeteria after a workout. A Capitol staffer told us we had a half hour.

            “Hah! Not enough time for a quickie.” Marvel had a very smug look on his face as he said it. _Thanks for the idea – but dammit, he was right about the scheduling issue._

            “I bet you would know about being quick.” _Burn!_ I high-fived Glimmer for the putdown.

            Alex joined in. “I hate to say it, man, but you got told!”

            Clove metaphorically spat at me. “How else are you enjoying the Capitol?”

            “Good eatin’ … I’m used to the healthy yet simple stuff at home.”

            “I’m with you on that … hey Avox, another everything sandwich over here.”

Pearl, Alex’s district partner, started the analysis. “Thresh can pump some serious iron – Gale, not so much.”

I responded with, “I noticed that about Gale too, but I didn’t get a good look at Thresh.”

Glim also thought 12. “Freaking Katniss, how does she make a bow work like that?”

“I don’t know, but any archery equipment needs to be kept out of her hands, even if you aren’t so great with it yourself.”

 

When going back into the training room after lunch, I first told Glimmer what I was doing. “Wrestling mat. Watch this.” I got two quick pins on the instructor. I knew I had him beat, but didn’t think it would be so easy. Thresh was next – two out of three and he didn’t win as easily. I figured. About my size, but a yahoo from an outer district.

 

Unlike Clove, Glimmer didn’t like to throw her blades. I wanted to practice with unranged knives anyway. Glimmer being at that station was a bonus. After a bit, I thought, what the hell, where’d my blade go? I shoved the dude from Six. “Where’s my knife?”

“I told you, I don’t have it.”

“That’s what they all say.” Hawthorne and the other usual suspects were apparently amused at my expense. Six would join them on my shit list.

Atala brought over a Peacekeeper to stop us. _Buzzkill._ “What part of ‘don’t fight with other tributes yet’ don’t you understand?”

 

For the rest of training, we had dinner back in the apartment – just two tributes and their staff. As usual, it’s easier to talk strategy without the other tributes around. For me in particular, I wouldn’t be distracted by Glimmer.

“Apparently Four haven’t taken sides in this little love rectangle.” _Enobaria had a point._ “As usual, I want the Career pack to hold together as long as possible, and Pearl and Alex might help with that. This year is especially crazy…” _Because of your protégé Clove, even if she wasn’t jealous of me and Glimmer._ “…but ya always gotta be ready when the Career alliance disintegrates. Since I won, only two from Two have been.”

We were expected to remember past victors, especially our own, so I completed Enobaria’s sentence. “Maria last year, Rubeus in 67.” Then I ad-libbed. “Heck, Ruby is probably girlier than you, Mary and Clove combined, but even I don’t want to say anything to him about it.”

Brutus explained. “Probably entered the academy to toughen up. It stuck with him. At least no one gives him crap about it anymore, like Mr. Adams just illustrated. Cashmere in 64 and Sapphire in 71 on the other hand – Glimmer is no fluke as far as the ladies of District One are concerned.” I had to congratulate Brutus for that.

Now it was Clove’s turn, or at least she thought so. “Of course, ranged weapons add to the element of surprise. My knives, of course. Cato and Marvel are about the same at javelin.” _Seems this is falling apart already – what about my other weapons? Glimmer’s lack of skill at range is going to be a problem._

“I’m expecting a visitor, y’all might wanna go somewhere else.” _We all knew who the visitor was and why’d they want to leave._ Clove and Enobaria went somewhere together. I’m not sure where Brutus is.

 

I left the bedroom door open. I stripped down to my undershorts and laid in wait to get laid. It didn’t take long for her to show up, and I stood up to block the door frame. She had dressed up, wore some jewels while coming over to see my _jewels_.

“Let me in, but I might be breaking the law, so frisk me real good, especially underneath.”

I smirked as I responded with “I guess.” _Don’t have to twist my arm there – if you could even twist my arm._

 

She deliberatively put down the jewelry and somehow had remembered to close the door when I said, “Hands above your head…that’s the only way your shirt’s coming off.” _Didn’t have to tell her twice._ I did that much slower than necessary, to savor every bit of contact with her luscious frame. I could tell she appreciated it. It didn’t take long to get the skirt past her hips, and then she tossed it onto the dresser.

 

Where’d she get that lingerie? Yowza! She enticed me further with “Tonight, Imma let you do your thing, yeah.” _Not like right now is an exception._ We were now pressed up against each other. Her breath began to grow heavy as she stood right in front of me. Her eyes were still green, but that might as well have been the color of insanity. I had found someone exactly as crazy as I was. Well, I’d never get anything out of a simple life.

 

With her on the edge of the bed and me standing, she said “Tell me something, boy, what do you have in store?”

“There’s one delicacy I haven’t tried yet.” I started fingering her as I pushed away the so-called underwear. _There we go! Keep going!_ Yeah, she liked it, so I added more fingers and started moving them faster. Her groaning was starting to give me a contact high. I started kissing her inner thighs.

She was beyond ready, and let me know that. “Come here right now!” There’s another instruction I didn’t mind following quickly. Once my mouth got there, her squirming went to another level. I kept on going until she was almost ready to go off again and then brought my thumb down onto her nub.

I laid down on the bed as we both collapsed. “My turn!,” I said with a gleam in my eye.

She started to kneel in front of me when she said, “That cannon isn’t to be wasted on my mouth.” I learned she was quite acrobatic as she landed all the way on top of me. I gave it to her all at once last night, she asked for it all at once tonight. I played with her knockers while looking into those wild green eyes. I saw past those to the rest of her face – for once, she didn’t care how unkempt her hair was.

 

I wasn’t going to last long after taking so much time to so carefully get her off, and she knew it. “I’m giving you permission to fill me again.”

“You got it.” We didn’t even let up as I felt the telltale pumping sensation.

 

We heard another knock on the door. It was the boy from District Three, obviously sleepy. “What is all this noise?”

 _Pretend I’m stupid? Two can play that game._ “Stuff for big girls and big boys.”

“Very big boys.” _You got that right._

“Oh, you.” I kissed her again, and I figured I’d have plenty more opportunities to do so.

 

“Lord you’re a great fuck, but you’re the first girl that’s ever felt like more than that.”

“Is that how tough guy says ‘I love you’?”

 _Damn it!_ “You’re right.”

The last kiss before we parted for the night was relatively tender by our standards.

 

Not much happened in the second day of training besides the usual. However, once we got to the training center, I saw Twelve together bothering with the nature section for some reason. Looking at them, evidently we weren’t the only couple in the tribute pool. Clove paused from throwing literal knives to toss me a metaphorical one, “Falling for someone you always knew back home. What a concept.”


	4. Ready For Battle

_I wasn’t about to wait…_ “Lie down on the bed and let me grab your legs.” After lifting her ankles up onto my shoulders, I continued with “How do you like this?”

“Very much so.” _…she wasn’t about to either._

“Well, you’re going to like _this_ even more.” I was right. She seemed to especially enjoy being penetrated this way.

“With you I sure am feeling it, no faking.” _Yeah, I could generally tell when a girl was for real, and she sure was._

“So, who you got at home for you, Glim?” I said.

“My folks are alright, although Dad’s a little old fashioned. Lustre, though…she wants to be just like her big sister.”

“I’m an only child – it’s kinda hard to have younger siblings when your dad died before you were born.”

“Are those tears in big bad Cato’s eyes?”

“Glim, you have a special touch, you really do, but no one else hears about this.”

“No,” she pleaded. “A tough guy with a brain and a bit of a sensitive side? A lot of people like that. I sure do.” She leaned over for another wild kiss, coming up for air to say “Even before you came and swept me away, I didn’t have another boyfriend.” _Way to stroke my ego after stroking something else._ “Glimmer can afford to be choosy,” she said in the third person.

“You sure can.”

“Why thank you. A lot of guys don’t get the message.”

“Like your district partner.”

“Ah sheesh, he’s a cool guy, but I definitely have never seen him in that way.”

“It’s kinda like that with me and Clove, but at least she’s smart enough to know it.”

“She’s one of the ones I’m most worried about. She’s so good now, imagine how good she’d be in a few years.”

“Marvel and I are only 17; we didn’t want to take my chances with the Third Quarter Quell.” _Well, that explains that._ “But she could have waited for the 76 th or 77th too.” _Glimmer stating the obvious is okay because that means I get to listen to and look at her._ “Well, I’m also worried about Twelve. They’re both looking better and better in training. And this public lovebirds angle is brilliant. Four can play that game.” _What?_ “I thought Cato wasn’t scared of anything.”

“I’m not.”

“Well, you seem to be afraid of emotions besides violent rage.” _She already saw through my front to this shell of a man._

“Not any more, not with you - maybe.”

“No maybe about it – you know it. You admitted the truth to me last night. Just admit the truth to Caesar tomorrow night.”

“I don’t think it’s that easy.”

“Think about it. Our districts are usually unstoppable. This way, we’ll be even more so.”

“I will, Glimmer Rose Shinesmith, I will!,” I ended up saying with my usual swagger. _Having said it so forcefully made clear to me she had gotten me to mean it, not just say it._

 

She left. I needed to think over what I had actually just said with such enthusiasm. Even without that, I needed a shower, what with the regular workouts all day and the _extracurricular workout_ in the evening. Why did the Capitol have to make even that simple stuff fancy? The next morning, I noticed I was out of tribute uniform sets. I found my cleanest dirty shirt. _Things Glimmer wouldn’t do._ I stumbled out of the apartment.

 

We saw Katniss and whatshername from eleven race through the ropes course. Twelve won that easily and her district partner was right there to catch her. Smooth move, lover man. Katniss got into position to catch Rue. I’m not sure what she sees in the weakest of the competition, but the little girl did a nice job landing right on the bigger girl’s shoulders. A lot of their alliance enjoyed the show, even Thresh, and he had been silent the whole time.

 

We hit the gauntlet at the end. Careers usually did, including me and Glimmer this year. Climb the steps, deal with the clubs. Easy. She dodged most of the blows. I shrugged them off, and she smiled at me. Gale went up last, and did quite well with it. I wanted to wipe that smirk right off his face…

 

Atala’s whistle blew. “And that’s it! Private sessions begin after lunch.”

 

Each of us had fifteen minutes alone to show off to the Gamemakers like we had been doing in public all week. Glimmer got to go first and I got to go fourth. Glimmer walked out quite happy with herself, not that Marvel and Clove could complain either. We had the training center to ourselves to demonstrate whatever we wanted to. I threw some spears once I got done hacking apart dummies with swords. Everything went as I knew it would. We just had to wait until before the interviews tomorrow evening to know exactly how well I did.

 

I had to kill time tomorrow, supposedly getting prepared for the interview. I’m already ready to go. “You looking badass is not going to be difficult.” Brutus had a point, but that’s not the only thing I was thinking any more. “What happened with my father and what’s happening with Glimmer – that shit is audience gold.”

“That’s not your angle, Adams. You’re someone they don’t want to mess with, not someone who needs to work up a sob story.”

“The odds will be even more in my favor.”

“Well, you’ve been having a good time this week, but I still think that girl could be the end of you.”

 

They brought me another damn suit. Fine.

 

We finally got to hear out training scores right before leaving for interviews. Of course we’d be close to the high of twelve. A nine for Glim, but a ten for me – awesome. Both of us had district partners get the same. District Four didn’t do that well for Careers. Hah, my friend from District Six only got a five. _It’s on, punk._ The guys from Districts Eight and Eleven also pulled nines. How the hell did Katniss get an eleven? I expected Gale to do fairly well, but not a ten.

 

The interviews were yet another thing in district number order with females first, and that’s how we lined up outside of Caesar’s studio. We were able to look through the doorway to watch it live, and Glimmer have us plenty to watch. I was not complaining about her rather revealing dress, but meh, I didn’t need to imagine. The Capitol men were cheering for her like expected.

 

As Glim started talking to Caesar, some idiot in the audience let loose with a two-toned whistle. _Whistling at her like that is my job!_ I saw that Marvel was joining in. However, myself and many other guys, including other tributes, were behaving like gentlemen. Glim was not happy about the incident and rightfully so, so she decided to stare down the audience and capped that by saying. “I have a boyfriend, you know.” Marvel’s head hung low as I smirked at him.

 

Marvel was reasonably friendly with Caesar. One of the things he joked about was the identity of Glimmer’s significant other. “I’m afraid it’s not me, but not for lack of trying.” _I guess he was using his failure to gain sympathy._

 

Clove made it clear that she was dangerous, letting everybody know she was the pint-size peril I knew her as. However, at times she was sweet instead of sharply sarcastic.

 

The Capitol women cheered for me like the men did for Glimmer. I had to admit I looked pretty sharp in this ‘another damn suit’. I decided to fuel the fire by giving them a flex. My hair looked too nice; I bet Glimmer was looking forward to messing it up during tonight’s _activities_. Caesar started by asking me, “Why were you so eager to volunteer?”

            “I’m confident I can win this. I’m ready, willing and able to kill my way there. My father thought the same.”

            Caesar explained what us in the Career camp already knew. “But Julius Adams _didn’t_ make it out of the 55th Games.”

            “Aye. His girlfriend (my mother) was already pregnant.” Like when talking to Glimmer, the heavy emotions cut my swagger a bit. “An Adams will take the crown this time.”

There was a gleam in my eye as I had one more thing to say. “That Glimmer, she’s something else, isn’t she? We fell for each other real quick.” The audience went crazy. Looks, strength and something more and they loved it. _Take that, Brutus, you hardass._

Many of the other tributes had interviews as unimpressive as their training scores. The girl from District Five seemed pretty smart, but she had probably scored only a five for a reason. The idiot from Six was trying took tough, and I knew it wasn’t working.

 

Rue said, “If they can’t catch me, they can’t kill me. So don’t count me out.” Caesar agreed. _Challenge accepted. After all, I’m here because I relish a challenge._ Her district partner continued being difficult even under the studio lights, barely saying anything to Caesar. _A silent-but-deadly angle I suppose. Let’s make that silent and dead._ Caesar was friendly and professional even when putting up with that nonsense.

 

Katniss was not ready, and Caesar was trying to be nice. “So, what’s your favorite part of the Capitol so far?”

“The lamb stew?”

“I can’t get enough of that stuff either, and I’m afraid it shows.” He patted his gut; the audience liked how he could poke fun at himself.

“But really, Cinna. He’s the nicest person I’ve met here, and aren’t the outfits amazing?”

“Yes, that tribute parade will not soon be forgotten.” _I remembered it all right, getting a good look at Glimmer, but you two had to go and show us up…_

She stood up and began to twirl around. The bottom of the dress looked like it was on fire like the tribute parade costumes, and the audience ate up that shtick again.

“Pretty girl like you must have a special guy.”

“We’ve been inseparable for years, but only recently fell in love.” _Glimmer hadn’t wasted any time. What had Katniss been doing?_

“Well, go home to him; a victor is quite a catch.” _Right on, Flickerman, but…_

            “That won’t help.”

“Why not?”

“He’s here with me.” We had seen it coming, but the audience didn’t, and they fell silent. _Did it seem like they were copying us, or did it seem like they had one-upped us?_

 

Gale nearly missed his cue from the unmistakable deep booming voice of Games announcer Claudius Templesmith. “And now for the last of our tributes, the District Twelve male, Gale Hawthorne.”

 

            He swaggered through the stage lights to go sit next to Caesar. As with Cato, the females in the audience cheered the loudest, and it seems like Gale was used to the attention too.

 

            He shook Caesar’s hand as Caesar said, “Well, the girls are all over you, but supposedly one of them already has your heart.”

            “It’s true. She’s the only one for me; all the lovers that came before don’t compare to her. A certain couple has known each other for four and half days; we’ve known each other for four and half years.” _Real subtle there, Hawthorne. Real subtle._

“So you volunteered to save your girlfriend?” _That’s sweet but stupid, and did the Capitolites see the same reaping I did?_

“No, my brother. That damsel can handle her own distress…” _Frankly, you on her side is going to make killing her a lot more difficult._ “…but Rory needs my help.”

 “That’s basically what she said about…”

 

He started talking rapid-fire after ending Caesar’s sentence: “Prim. We’re exceptions to the saying, ‘family loyalty only goes so far on reaping day’. We already do all we can for them. We basically had to after our fathers died in the mines. This includes taking the tesserae.” The audience was quiet. _It’s easy – more food and you get a better chance of getting to go to the Games._ “Take additional food rations, get additional reaping entries. Here, the Avoxes serve us more than we know what to do with.” _Yeah, the food is really good here._ “District Twelve’s gonna have a victor. I guarantee it. Someone’s going to live through this. When it’s over, they and our folks will never be hungry again. I’m proud to bear Rory’s amateur artwork as my token.” _Gale displayed the family portrait - the little Hawthorne couldn’t draw worth shit though. Clove could actually make some nice leatherwork crafts with her knives when she wasn’t throwing them, and she was wearing one of her own bracelets tonight._

 

“Now, Katniss’ three minutes are already up, but let’s hear it for the two most loyal older siblings in the country.” Much of the crowd was on their feet, and I think I saw Glimmer join them – maybe she felt the same way about Lustre.

 

Enobaria showed me the latest printout from the Capitol bookmakers. “Well, Adams, the odds are on your favor.” It’s true, I was the favorite at 3-1. “But your girlfriend, not so much,” she sneered as she pointed out Glim’s 7-1. “The clowns from Twelve are each at 4-1. How did that happen?”

Brutus offered an answer. “Outdid you on that lovebird shit.”

Clove wanted to change the subject. “That bitch getting an eleven and her man getting a ten is probably what did it.”

“Yeah, that didn’t hurt, Hawkins.”

 

I went to Glimmer’s apartment again. She greeted me with few words and even fewer clothes. “What you said about me was beautiful.”

“You really opened my heart. You deserved it. Lately, pleasing a woman is what most makes me feel like a man. No, not a woman, this particular woman.” _She ate that up like how I was about to eat her up._

 “Even more than the show of force downstairs? Bet you’ve felt like quite a man lately.”

“I know what I feel right now.”

“I feel it too.”

“That much is apparent – even if you were dressed, I would have seen it in your eyes.”

“My breasts are down here, pal.”

“Oh, I know. I love the way they feel as I run my hands all over your body,” I said as I flicked her nipples. “I love the way they taste,” I said as I licked the orbs.

“I’m already beyond turned on for you. Give it to me. Let’s share that feeling again,” she said while tugging at my waistband. For yet another time, she exhorted me to take care of her right away. I was getting a good idea of what worked with her, and as expected she was delirious over the first powerful stroke and gladly took several more minutes of that pounding before I filled her. This went at least as well as our many previous encounters.

 

I felt like it was time to go back to my apartment, so I said, “If nothing else, this has been one heck of a week. Well, goodnight and shine on.”

“I know it’s been more than that. Stay right here.” Surprisingly, I acquiesced. With my arms wrapped around such a beautiful woman, was there a better way to spend my last night before the battle of my life? I don’t think so.

 

Cashmere woke us up. “Good morning, _you two._ You go, girl.”

Glimmer had said ‘Cash’ was totally on our side here. Brutus also understood. “Adams, you disappeared, but we all knew exactly where you were.”

           

We were due for a physical before heading out to the arena. I passed with flying colors; apparently Glimmer did too and was quite excited about it.


	5. Date With Destiny

The tributes were to gather for breakfast near the hovercraft that would fly us to the arena. However, us Careers showed up early to talk amongst ourselves. “It’s simple. We kill Katniss.” _Yeah, I’m in charge around here._ My Glim joined Clove in loudly agreeing with plan 1. They knew the boy from Three was the only one I let join the Careers that wanted to. I laid down the rules again. “You’re guaranteed a spot in the crew – if you kill someone.”

            “Well, ah…” _The fool was hesitating…_

            _…and I’d set him straight._ “Blow me.”

            “I thought that was Glimmer’s job.” He _had_ kinda caught us once, and I respected the way he responded to that. _But damn it, that was one of the few things Glimmer hadn’t done with me yet. I bet she was real good at that too, and I wish I had a chance to find out._ Anyway, all seven of us shared a laugh before getting back to business.

“ _I_ kill the boy from Six. Other than that, kill who you can. Alex, go for the easy kills. Marvel, help him out with that.” _I didn’t want either of them in the way._ “No fucking around trying to make the kills fancy – that might get you killed.”

I ended the meeting by saying, “The odds are in our favor.”

 

Nathan left once the other tributes started to show up, but Alex kept hanging out like usual. _I think the little boy was trying to gain some respect by rolling with the big boys. Fair enough._ “I hear warrior queen was pretty passionate last night!” I had to high-five him for that. _Hell yeah she was_. Gale grimaced. _You too? You and fire girl finally made a move_?

 

 _Chow time._ I didn’t eat much since I didn’t want to feel stuffed while trying to run. Marvel had an opposite strategy if any at all.

 

            A peacekeeper just said “It’s time”. _About time. Let the Games begin already._ We paraded down the green carpet that led to the hovercraft and climbed up the ladder. The passenger bay had seats on the edges and we donned the restraints. Now we got our trackers from the Capitol medics. Obviously they needed to follow us during the Games. The injection was of a device, not a drug, but getting it still gave me a rush.

 

            There was an announcement: “Fifteen minutes out.” Once the time was almost up, they darkened the windows to hide the arena until we were launched into it. The light came back when we landed in the complex underneath the arena. We went our separate ways – the rules of the Games randomized the order in which we were placed around the Cornucopia. Where would the ‘MALE 2’ corridor lead? The Peacekeepers escorted me down it towards the Launch Room. One of the young soldiers recognized me – not surprising, since he came from Two like most Peacekeepers. “Do our district proud, Tribute Adams.”

            “Yes sir.”

 

            My stylist was there with the tribute uniform. I paid attention because of how it related to the arena environment – nothing particularly extreme, apparently. The pants and shirt were both green, and the pants had plenty of pockets. _Good for storing all the stuff I’ll get from the Cornucopia._ The belt and boots were both made out of sturdy leather. The thin black jacket had a zipper and a hood.

 

            “It’s time. The odds are in your favor. Force will be with you.” _You got that right._ I climbed into the clear cylindrical elevator that would carry me into the arena. It stopped once the platform was level with the floor of the Arena.

 

The Final Countdown

 

I had to take in the arena for a minute before starting my rampage. Landmines by the platforms made sure of that. _Some idiot once got blown to bits by dropping her token on her platform’s landmine._ A big timer on the Cornucopia showed the countdown.

 

 _Sixty._ I had waited much of my life for this moment, so I savored it a bit. Myself and the rest of the Careers broke the rules and don’t care – life’s a game and it’s not fair. We’re addicted to the thrill and I felt it coming in the air.

 

 _Fifty._ I saw Glimmer about a third of the way around to my left. The boy from Six is directly to my left. _The Capitol is making this almost too easy._

 

 _Forty._ Gale’s right between me and Glim. My other threats and allies are across the circle where I can’t see them.

 

 _Thirty._ Somebody besides Gale or Katniss better get that bow while I’m dealing with Six.

 

 _Twenty._ I saw the rack of blades in the middle of the Cornucopia. Of course a Career goes for the best goods, and of course I’d go for that in particular.

 

 _Ten._ Let’s go for it! I count the last numbers as I’m ready to make a mad dash for glory. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…

 

 _Zero._ The gong went off. Can’t be scared when it goes down.

 

            I let out a battle cry as I charge towards the Cornucopia. The idiot from Six isn’t smart enough to run away. I catch him before I even get to the weapons. _I won’t even need weapons for him._ I held his neck and twisted his head until he fell limp.

 

            I turn around to see Glim barely escape Gale’s grasp. I see what I least wanted to see – Katniss with the bow. _What did I tell you people?!_ Marvel stood over a tribute he had vanquished. So did Nathan. _Welcome to the group, Three._ Pearl tried to spear Katniss and got shot for her trouble. Alex did reach someone with a spear. Then Katniss shot him too. I wasn’t going to let her have all the fun of killing both tributes from the same district, so I made the _girl_ from Six my next target. Clove had already gotten her knives; I got my sword. The girl from Six was standing in front of a pile of supplies. I ran up to her and swung my sword down on her right shoulder. Its path went through a braid. _Time for a haircut._ The blade crunched against bone, blood gushed, the body fell. _Mission accomplished._

 

            As the bloodbath unfortunately waned, we Careers regrouped at the base of the Cornucopia while the few other surviving tributes retreated from it. Marvel got to use his javelin and Clove got to use her knives, knocking out a couple of the other remaining males, but not Gale – he had already run into the woods. He took plenty of supplies that were rightfully ours with him. His girlfriend probably could shoot food as well as tributes. This could be a problem, since other tributes’ lack of supplies often made it even easier to deal with them.

 

            Ten cannons went off, and I was responsible for only two of them. _I wasn’t worried – I’d get plenty more, and even let Glimmer have a few._

 

            I cleared my throat and the other tributes stopped looking through what remained in the Cornucopia. I said “Okay, gentlemen and ladies, it’s time for a debriefing about the bloodbath.”

            “I think Glimmer has already debriefed you.” _I can take off my own damn underwear without her help, wiseass._

            “Thank you for that, Nathan. Anyway…”

            After I told him off, Marvel was the first to get to the point, heh heh. “I stabbed the girl from Three,” he said while looking right at Nathan. “…Sorry about that.”

            “No need. I don’t know someone just ‘cause we’re from the same city, and it’s not like I was going home with her anyway… I bludgeoned the girl from Eight.” _Awesome. I’m starting to like this kid._

            After the interruption, Marvel finished by saying “I javelined the boy from Seven.”

            “Everybody, thank you for following instructions by letting me get the boy from Six. I got his district partner while I was at it. However, someone who was not supposed to get a bow got a bow!” I had basically screamed the last part.

“I tried, but damn, that bitch can run.” Probably best that Glimmer was the one to answer me. I was in no mood to hear from anyone else about it after an otherwise successful bloodbath.

Marvel had been looking through the weapons, and reported “No other archery equipment in there” while pointing back to the Cornucopia.

Glimmer continued being diplomatic. “I tried to do the next best thing, grab a knife and cut her down, but Gale wasn’t cooperating.”

Clove had also failed. “She dodged my first throw. I had another lined up, but Thresh doesn’t want to cooperate either. I took another shot as she was fleeing the area, but she blocked it. I got the boy from Nine. That’s my only kill so far. Katniss got our comrades from Four and Alex speared a couple first. That’s all ten cannons.”

As if on cue, we heard the eleventh. “Okay, let’s try and find it. Nathan, stay back here,” I ordered.

 

When we went out to patrol the woods, I went in front with my sword and Glimmer was right next to me with her machete. Marvel and Clove were backing us up with ranged weapons. All we found was the District Ten girl, and Clove broke formation to get a clearer shot. Spreading out from the right flank, my district partner drew her arm back. The target knew her life was about to end. Clove gloated after the cannon faded out. “Did you see that? She was all like _please don’t kill me_.” I reached back and across the formation to high-five her for that. _Glimmer wants a kill, but I wanted to stay on relatively good terms with Clove for now, so I tolerated her impulsiveness._

We stayed out for about another hour, and Glim was getting impatient. “How about we head back for dinner?”

 _I didn’t have to agree with her just because she’s my girlfriend. I was about ready for some grub myself._ “Fine by me.” Clove and Marvel didn’t mind either.

 

Nathan was back at camp fooling around with a shovel. “Shovels. Good for more than just hitting tributes. I was thinking about how to guard our stuff…”

 _I think I got it._ “Trenches?”

            “No.”

            “Traps?”

            “In a way – I think I can figure out how to reactivate the land mines after we excavate them and rebury them around the supplies.” _Brilliant._

            “I like your thinking – that’s what you’re here for. But speaking of supplies, it’s chow time. It’s getting dark – we can work with the supplies in the morning.”

 

            I kind of enjoyed the return to simple food after a week of Capitol delicacies. Glimmer and I finished before the others. “We need to talk,” she said. _The four words any man least wants to hear from a woman, especially while fighting for their lives._

            Marvel sarcastically dismissed this with an obscene hand gesture and “Sure. Talk.”

            She obviously wanted the two of us alone away from them. I said, “What is it, Sparkles?”

She wasted no time as she laughingly brushed me off with ‘Don’t call me Sparkles’. “I’m pregnant. It’s yours, of course – why would I want to fuck anyone else, you stud?” _Even knocked up and in the arena, she won’t stop. I could see she was a fiery one._ I was stunned, which helped enable Glimmer to keep speaking. “I always wanted children, and I doubt I could have picked a better father. I hope it’s as big, strong and cunning as you are.” _I was touched, and not just in the usual sense of a girl tickling my killer abs or something._ “I love you and I know you love me.”

“That’s so true. I love Glim! I really love how you taught me _to_ love.”

“If I win, I’d see you in our child every day. Whichever one of us wins will have some very fond memories of the other. Let’s make it last.” I was sitting down and leaning back. At this point she started to straddle me.

“I almost don’t want to do this right now, just to prove Marvel wrong.”

“I like your thinking. I’m sure we’ll find some time soon.”

 

_So many people said that the right (or wrong!) woman would be my downfall. That’s probably why I had never let Clove or anyone else get close before. But apparently they had a point. I couldn’t live if I let the mother of my child die. Even some of my fellow hardasses back home might not let me get away with it. But my mother had already lost someone to the Games._

 

At night, the Capitol recounted the deaths during the last day. They played the Panem national anthem as a cue that the recap was about to start. Also, a hovercraft with a projector screen showed the Capitol seal. This celebrated the kills we made and made us aware of the ones we’d missed. All the tributes got their pictures taken on the last day before the arena. Amongst other things, those pictures were used to identify that day’s losers. The names were in district order, females first, like so much of Games procedure. The screen switched from the seal to the following list: District Three, Regina. District Four, Pearl. District Four, Alex. District Six, Kara. District Six, Ashton. _Serves him right._ District 7, Sawmill. District 8, Mackenzie. District 8, Samuel. _Hawthorne probably whooped his ass._ District 9, Annie. District 9, Imanol. District 10, Dakota. District 10, Jeremy. _Yeah, with that limp, no way he was making it away from the Cornucopia._ The anthem was played again at the end.

 

            We chose Nathan to take the nighttime watch out of an inability to decide on anyone else. Clove gave him a package of caffeine pills she’d found in the Cornucopia. As Glimmer was falling asleep on my arm, I thought about how much we’d miss each other. In just a few days, Miss Shinesmith had become much more than just another hot body to take to bed. Too much of anything can make you sick; makes it hard to know what road to go down. I’d still be a Victor without her, but I really would have lost something. _Shit, I really am in love._

 

            I awoke to her hands on my face. Evidently she liked the few days’ worth of beard. I’d have to let go of her at some point, but not any time soon. It was time for breakfast. I was too heavy for climbing, so Glim got us a bag of fruit from the pile of supplies. I started chewing on one and said, “These are good. Hey Glim, why don’t you put them somewhere lower and safe?”

 

            “Who do you have to kill to get some attention around here?” Marvel was annoyed.

            “Taking care of Gale or Katniss would be nice,” I said, meeting his sarcasm at face value.

            Marvel had finished eating, and said “Well, I’m done with the grub. Let’s go out looking for them.”

            “That’s the spirit,” I replied.

            “We have to secure the supplies first,” Clove reminded us. Nathan agreed most loudly, since it was his idea, but we all went to it.

 

            We scoured the Cornucopia again and put the few additional things in the pile with the rest. I took the other shovel and we dug up all 24 of the mines. “Now what?,” I asked, quite sick of shovels for the time being.

            “We bury them, I turn them on, we cover the holes, and then the odds will not be in the favor of people trying to steal our stuff. Ladies, it’s somebody else’s turn with the shovels.”

 

            Nathan was working on something with the mines while Marvel and I were hanging out near the supplies. “So Gale has a brother. I wonder what that’s like,” he said.

            “I wouldn’t know.”

            “Alright, want to take javelin practice?”

            “Sure, why not?” We made a contest out of throwing them at particular spots on particular trees. It may have worn them down, but we had plenty of replacement spearheads. “You’re cool, Marvel, but I ain’t forgettin’ that we’re here to kill each other.”

“We’re not there yet – we go for Thresh and Gale first.” _Smart enough._

“You got that right. I’m not worried about Christopher from Five, but just for the laughs, I want to attack him with a pointed stick.”

“Well, Ashton from Six would know that you remember stuff from the Training Center, and by the way, I know I haven’t done any digging yet.”

            “Oh, don’t worry, we’ll find something for you to do … Nathan, how you coming along?”

            Three responded with “I’ve laid out the two dozen spots near the supplies, now we need to actually put the mines there.”

“Gotcha.”

“I’m getting tired, how about I take a nap while you four go out on patrol?” _No surprise, he was up all night._

We grabbed empty backpacks and put stuff in them. We had just put them on and were about to leave when a cannon went off. Nathan had gone to bed rather than blowing himself up, so who could it be?

 

            Well, it wasn’t Logroll. We saw the District Seven female start to run as we approached her location in the woods. Glimmer took off after her. I knew Clove could run, but my district partner decided to stay back. What sunlight made it through the canopy glint off the blade of Glimmer’s rapidly moving machete. Glimmer swung at one arm and then another. Logroll’s blood gushed out and the cannon went off. Glimmer stood up in a victory stance. However, that didn’t last long. She ran into a patch of high grass to throw up. _I heard that pregnant women puke. Some people get sick after running too hard – that I do have personal experience with. Two for one, the odds were in nausea’s favor._ The hovercraft picking up Logroll’s corpse somewhat shielded Glimmer from the audience. After it left, we ran over to our comrade. “Ýou okay, Dimmer?” _Don’t call her that, Marvel._

            “I’m fine, but let’s go home for the day. I suppose you can work on securing the supplies while I calm down.”

 

            Glimmer was not in the mood after all. I let her be and made sure the other three did the same. We buried the mines, Nathan reactivated them, and Marvel filled the holes.

 

During the next day’s breakfast, Clove spat “Why is Glimmer getting extra food?” _Because I knocked her up and I’m taking care of her. I expected Marvel to be this dense, not you._

            “It’s not like we’re running out, Spice,” I answered. I stared at her, and that ended the conversation.

 

            Nothing else happened that day.

 

During the middle of the fourth day, a cannon went off, and it wasn’t for any of us or anybody we killed. I wonder who didn’t make it to the last nine. _Finally, another death._ Then the nightly recap came up. Evidently it was the girl from Five. Right after the anthem, Clove whacked Nathan. That was… _impulsive_ …but it did take care of that problem. Reaching the final eight was a big deal, but since the ninth was killed off late at night, I figured they wouldn’t acknowledge it until morning.

 

As Templesmith told us, “Attention tributes! I have a special announcement. We are now down to the final eight, including both members of both couples. If either couple are the final two, they may win together.” _I wouldn’t have to torture my momma to save my babymomma or the other way around!_  “Also, there’s a baby on the way…” _The secret’s out._ “… and a marriage, but for different pairs.” _Hint hint, Adams, hint hint. Very funny, Templesmith, but I’d take the hint. I had worried about life without her, which made it clearer that I wanted life with her. I’d say it in front of the whole country. That would drive her even more wild. We just had to sela the deal with the Games themselves._

 

I took her into my arms as I said, “We’re going home, Glim! This seems fitting – this year, our districts have their usual strength and something more, so they both get a victor. Just know that you're not in this thing alone; there's always a place in me you can call home.”

 

The Capitol always interviewed the families of the final eight. The camera crews were a regular sight in Two. Both of our tributes better make it at least this far, even if they didn’t win. I know what I was thinking and I’m pretty sure Mother back home would agree. Big bad Cato was definitely coming back, like expected. However, he was soon to be a husband and father, which was certainly not expected.


	6. The Final Countdown

So I could win with Glimmer. Clove was right next to me when Claudius Templesmith said this, and I knew this would be the last straw for her. So it has come to this, Spice. I figured she’d throw a knife right away, so I ducked right away. I felt the blade scrape my left shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Glimmer disarm Marvel and I watched Tribute Hoffman disappear, defeated. _I need to finish off Clove,_ I thought _._ I could grab my sword, but the knife she threw at me was especially close by.So I killed her with the weapon that had nearly killed me. A quick slash of the throat, and I laid her down neatly for the hovercraft to pick up. I would have taken her bracelet for Glimmer, but plundering tokens was one of the unwritten rules of the Games.

 

Glimmer pointed out which way Marvel went, and I figured we needed to chase him down before he totally disappeared. I had my sword sheathed, but I had my javelin drawn because a chase called for ranged weapons. Glimmer was behind and to the left of me wielding a machete. It turns out Marvel hadn’t gone too far. He was taking a breather from his desperate flight. He missed javelin throws at each of us before taking off again. Maybe he was trying to get us to separate so he could take us one by one. Maybe he wanted to find and ally with our enemies. He was running a convoluted route in dense woods, so it was hard to hit him. One throw hit a tree and another went in the direction I thought he was going, opposite of the direction he was actually heading in. He picked up one of the javelins to throw back, which gave me a clear shot. I nailed him in the chest and that was that.

 

“They died as they had lived,” I said after Marvel’s cannon.

“Marvel liked throwing spears, and you killed him with one – so you got Clove with a knife?,” Glimmer replied.

“Yeah,” I confirmed.

 

I decided to stay here and wait to see if the others would fall in our trap – conveniently, this strategy meant that I got to spend a day alone with Glimmer. Glimmer walked through the minefield to where that bag of apples was. We sat down on some empty supply boxes we had previously separated from the pile. I got one out and put it in Glimmer’s face. She took a bite and said, “There are far better things that hand could be doing.” _I could get used to this,_ I thought as I put the apple on the ground and put the hand down her shirt. It was clear she was quite happy with me working her nipples, and wanted to move somewhere where we could go further. We could use a distraction from the work behind us and ahead of us, and we had each other. I saw on her face that she sure wanted _something_. “We’ve got plenty of time, Big Shiny,” I reminded her. “Eleven and Twelve have been hiding since the bloodbath; they aren’t magically going to change course now.” _Like we needed excuses by now._

 

            I had never been so motivated to set up camping equipment in my life. The small two-person shelter was easy enough for one person to set up, especially someone of my height. The beams snapped together easily. I clipped and pinned them to the fabric with minimal fumbling. A second piece of fabric covered the frame and was a rain shield. I’d stake it down later; there was some other nailing to attend to. _Glimmer was feeling just as horny_ , I thought as she rushed inside.

 

            There was another tent I had pitched. I slid off my pants and undershorts in one motion and Glimmer’s eyes immediately gravitated to the released monster. And her mouth. Oh my, her mouth. She licked around the tip and tickled my rocks at the base, a tantalizing sensation. Then she swallowed me whole and bobbed back up to do it again. Under these cir-cum-stances, even I wouldn’t last long. Glimmer kept her mouth clamped on top of my tool, so it was her _throat_ that was filled this time. Hot damn. She knew what she was doing and at the time seemed to have no mind besides doing it to me. All I could say was “Wow. Why didn’t we do that until now?”

            She was right to the point. “I do want a baby.” _Well, you got one._   “Those nights in the Training Center, I never had anything like that before, but now I wanted to have some other fun.”

            “That we did!”

            “Still stunned, huh?,” she assessed accurately.

            “Glimmer, you do have a gifted mouth.” _And so do I._ She offered no resistance as my tongue made contact with hers.

Coming up for air, she squealed. “This child is going to be the cutest baby in all of Panem!,”

“Of course it will, looking half like you.” _I may not be the smartest guy, but I was smart enough._

“And half like you, handsome.” _Apparently, she felt the same way._

I had a simple declaration. “I’m excited yet clueless, but darn it, this little one will have the father I never did.”

“I’m sure our little girl will love her daddy,” she replied hopefully.

 “You know it’s a girl already?” _I was puzzled. I thought women only learned that when they were about halfway through._

She answered “No, wishful thinking. My first memory is from when Lustre was a newborn, and I’ve loved her ever since. That made me want a little girl of my own some day, and maybe that day is sooner than I thought.”

I countered with some thoughts on names. “If we have a boy first, let’s name it something besides Cato 2. That’s way overdone, because we’re District 2 and the mayor’s son is Patrick 2.”

“How about Julius 2?,” she said thinking of my father. “I didn’t want to do Lustre 2 for that matter. I was thinking Gemstone,” she continued. “Named after both our districts.”

“I love it. Well, that settles it,” I agreed. “I never really thought about it. I figured I’d have some fun with a girl hopped up on birth control like I’d been doing.”

“My latest shot wore off recently, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she seemed to say earnestly.

 

The national anthem played to introduce the death recap sequence, not that it would be new information for us. We looked outside of the tent anyway. District One, Marvel. District Two, Clove. _That was harder than I thought. The end of a beautiful friendship, really, and it all happened so fast. I’ll be happy with Glimmer, but I’ll still miss your attitude at my side._ District Three, Nathan. We brought some basic supplies and weapons inside the tent with us while the recap finished up. I didn’t forget the additional parts and storage sacks for the tent itself.

 

It was time to get some sleep. Ironically, we had been in so much of a rush that we hadn’t taken all our clothes off. I simply slid my shirt off, but Glimmer had a better idea. The tent was small enough that she could barely stand up straight, yet she was making sure that I’d be standing up, in a way. She slowly lifted her shirt over her head and dropped it to the floor. Removing her belt was similarly delayed, yet without it, she couldn’t help but drop the pants quickly. The bra and panties were very simple, but she looked hot as hell in them anyways, and she knew I knew that. “Let me help you with that,” I winked, standing up as best I could. _I can actually work a bra clasp, you know_ , and I demonstrated just that. I simply tore the panties off.

She turned around and asked “How do I look?” with mock innocence. Her back was towards me, so I leaned her over while grabbing onto her hips. “How’s that for an answer?,” I said triumphantly.

“Oh yes, very clear, answer me again _in another way_!,” she said just as clearly. I picked up on the hint. I took her from behind, a whole new sensation of tightness. I made full use of what space we had in the tent. I was spent again.

“Sit down on my face,” I ordered, and she was glad to comply. She was soaking wet and shaking in the best way possible, and I brought her to that state several more times. She placed her entire body on top of mine, and me thrusting up with her pushing down was the pattern that brought sleep upon us while I was still inside of her.

 

We were exceedingly well rested in the morning and were satiated even by our standards, able to focus on getting back to the task at hand. I got dressed quickly. Glimmer made herself look somewhat classy after being the exact opposite of it last night. Breakfast was cheese and dried meat sandwiched between crackers.

 

We soon went out looking for our rivals, finding the weakling from Eleven stuck up in a tree. I held a sword in one hand as I worked my way up the tree trunk, but the damn thing wouldn’t hold my weight. Glimmer rushed to my side on the ground and asked “Are you OK?”

“Of course I am,” I shot back, but the situation left me spewing foul language. _I’m still the same badass I’ve been since day one._ Glimmer evidently wasn’t much of a tree climber either, and the human shotput had run away through the trees anyhow.

 

            There was nothing to recap today, but we still got to hear the anthem, like three days ago. So Thresh was still out there. I wanted to take care of him first. The two couples versus each other as the final four? That’d be quite a show! Well, the audience probably also liked what was going on in our tent last night. We really did just _sleep_ together this night. I had seen her at her wildest, but there was a certain beauty about this state, just lying on her side as I gave her a hug from behind. I pulled her closer and felt her luxurious light hair brush up against my neck. Without her, I likely would have won anyway, but with her, I couldn’t lose.

 

            When we woke up, I said of the greasy feel on my arms “I sure could use a bath”.

            Glimmer was smart enough to not dwell on that in the arena, but cared too much about being pretty to totally ignore it, and so she said “Me too”.

“Let’s go down to the lake,” I suggested. She took the lead in gathering up our water containers to top off while we were there. We drank from some of the smaller bottles on the way, each with blades hanging from our belts. We were chewing through dried meat and fruit, and drinking lots of water helped balance that out.

 

The lake was getting plenty of sun by this point and looked crystal clear. “Let’s fill up the water containers before we get it dirty,” I said to state the obvious.

“It makes sense to do that anyway, since the iodine takes awhile to work,” she answered smartly. I saw some minor waves in the lake as we dipped the water containers into it.  We put in the iodine after placing the full containers on the shore.

 

Now I focused on some other jugs – Glimmer and I knew darn well this wasn’t just going to be a practical bathing and laundering session. For a moment it was revealed for everyone to see just what it was that endeared her to me. However, it was kind of necessary for what we doing, and it’s not like I’d share her or she’d want anyone else. Well, Panem should be able to handle a bit of sex along with the massive amount of violence. We threw the clothes onto a shoreside rock.

 

We started our actual task with just water on both our bodies and clothes. I felt relieved as the top layer of dirt, sweat and blood came cascading off our frames. Glimmer grabbed a bar of soap from the shore, rubbing down and dunking the clothes before laying them out on the rock. I didn’t mind washing my hair with regular soap, but Glimmer was of course put off by it. To rinse, I dove under for a short time after watching Glimmer do the same. It was a wonderful new view of the front of her always-gorgeous figure.

 

We took special care with scrubbing each other down. I waded around her and dove in order to get the same view of her perfectly proportioned rear end. I lifted her up, which was even easier with the aid of buoyancy. When her waist was level with mine, she said “Go for it”. Getting her wet had also been even easier than usual in this situation. I took her in the front from the rear, lifting her up so I could slam back into her, and in delirious joy, she more than returned the favor.

 

Our clothes were pretty dry after the time we spent having fun. The sun which continued to beat down would finish the job. The rest of Panem got some more fleeting looks as we got dressed. As we walked back to camp with our gear and each other, I said “That felt so good in so many ways” and sure didn’t get any complaints. However, what we found back at base wasn’t good - Gale and Katniss were exploring the area, but our impending return forced us to cancel their reconnaissance mission and retreat.

“What were they up to?,” Glimmer wondered.

“It looks like nothing’s missing. They were eyeing our supplies. We should have let them try, heh heh,” I analyzed.

 

The next morning meant we were a week into the arena, with only four more kills to make. “Raid our camp? Two can play that game,” I suggested. They had set up their base in a forest clearing. I sensed that their supplies were also secured. Glimmer learned this the hard way, face-planting after catching a trip wire. I traced the wire to one end, and Glimmer went in the opposite direction. We promptly set out looking for theirs. Glimmer cut her end with a machete. I was less happy with what I found at my end. I heard a whooshing sound, and before I knew it, I was pulled up in a net. _Hawthorne. The crafty little bastard secured a trap with a trap._ Glimmer hacked at the ropes that held me up and severed them in a few easy swings. _Well, that answered a key question_ , I muttered to myself. “We knew Everdeen can shoot. This must be what Hawthorne does,” I shouted. We forged ahead, probing the ground in front of us with sword and machete swings, disabling a few more triggers and sabotaging their supplies. I left the area, with Glimmer right behind me. Somehow I lost sight of her.

 

I saw Glimmer run in the opposite direction as Hawthorne gave chase. He gave up, and while I didn’t know where his wife was, this seemed like a good opportunity to deal with him. I drew my sword and charged. He managed to deflect my initial blows with the head of a mace. I kept wearing him down with vicious yet precise swings. He simply couldn’t kept up with my strength and sword skill. _So this is the best the outer districts can produce?_ I swung at his other side, and he barely managed to deflect that too. I quickly tossed my sword to my other hand and brought it down into his arm, still exposed from deflecting the last blow. I was quite satisfied for now with the wound I had left. However, he managed to land a blow with the mace right on my sword hand. This threw off what should have been a lethal swing. I saw Katniss. Ironically, Gale was in the way of a shot on me, but staying out of her way limited what moves I could use to finish off Gale. I saw Katniss trying to get into position to shoot and I saw Glimmer try to prevent that. I ducked as I saw the bowstring release, and although I hated to do it, I ran before she could get any more shots off. Glimmer didn’t try to close the distance between herself and Katniss and instead added to it. I ran in my lover’s direction.

 

When we reunited, I announced “He got me, but I got him worse.”

“How?,” Glimmer inquired.

“He clubbed my hand, but I don’t think he broke anything. I cut up his arm real bad,” I answered. “Damn it, I wish I had my javelins handy – then we could have dealt with Katniss at range.” Glimmer massaged my wounded hand and seemed to confirm my initial analysis of a lack of broken bones. _Our contact was more than just a fundamental first-aid procedure, and I knew it._ Brutus apparently didn’t see the need to send powerful painkillers, so I took some regular pills. “Speaking of supplies, if they can make a decent attempt at guarding theirs like that, they might be able to interfere with ours,” I continued. We were already carrying some things, but stuffed our packs as thoroughly as possible.

 

It was getting cold. I slept off my injury with my wounded hand draped over Glimmer’s side. We ate breakfast off of the supply pile and went out looking for them. Twelve. Not concerned about Eleven at the moment, and Glimmer got the message.

 

We returned to the Cornucopia to find a smoldering pile of rubble, including pieces of Hawthorne’s pack. I dedicated some obscene gestures to the District Twelve male and Glimmer was demonstrating some unladylike language. There had been no cannons and no bodies, so they got away with it. We had carried some things with us. Brutus and Cashmere should have no trouble lining up sponsors to provide us with what we needed to finish off the outer district bastards. Glimmer rubbed her belly, making a point about both hunger and pregnancy.

 

There was an empty recap, confirming my suspicions that they and their allies had survived the Cornucopia raid. Somehow Gale had not yet died of wounds inflicted during our duel. We’d carry out a nighttime raid soon enough, but I was too tired for that right now. So was Glimmer. I really did feel like such a man being so close to such a woman.

 

It was long since clear that our enemies wouldn’t come to us. We’d make the most of losing our Cornucopia base – since we had no need to return to the area, that made it even easier to patrol the rest of the arena. Even so, it wasn’t doing any good. We made camp at the top of a hill where we could see some fields in a nearby valley. We hadn’t been this way before and we hadn’t seen Thresh since the bloodbath. I put two and two together, and saw a glimmer of acknowledgement.

 

Then _we_ put Two and One together. It just happened so naturally, as it always seemed to do with us. She managed to show her usual incredibly pleasure without the usual incredible volume. That must have been quite a challenge with me lying next to her and taking her from the side, but it was easier with her mouth on me.

 

I sighted Thresh early in the morning, as expected. We descended into the valley with a foreshadowing of death. He saw us too. I saw his head look up from a field, probably where he had been hiding the whole Games. I went into the maze sword drawn.

 

Thresh kicked me in the hand, the one that Gale hadn’t clubbed, knocking my sword loose. Once his leg landed, he knocked the blade away. He then taunted me for being disarmed. “Not so high and mighty without your steel penis extender, are you?” _Glimmer begs to differ._

 

Sure enough…I heard Glim’s voice carry across the field, saying “He doesn’t need one!” However, all she could offer was snide remarks. She had Clove’s knives handy, but was afraid of hitting me, and reasonably so, considering her aim or lack thereof. It seems no one knew where the sword went to – I certainly couldn’t see it in the high grass. Our fight turned into a wrestling match. I saw Glimmer moving through the grass. Thresh had a chokehold on me. I was able to break it, but before I had a chance, Glimmer made sure of it. Thresh had to give up the hold to dodge her machete. I had him pinned now. I held it, but wasn’t able to deliver a death blow. Glimmer found my sword and handed it to me to cut him with. _BOOM. And then there were five…_

 

Now both of my hands were throbbing. Thresh had aggravated what I thought was a healed injury from Gale. Brutus sent a parachute my way. Morphling. Probably overkill, but I gladly shot it up anyway, and it more than helped.

 

We only got to put one face in the sky today. I wanted to win the Games with her tonight, or at least get another kill or two, but it just wasn’t going to happen. We were going to seal the deal tomorrow though, damn it. It took a few days in the Capitol to celebrate, but tomorrow the Adams line will be redeemed. Within a week, my mother would see in person what I had known all along, that I could get this done. Yet with a future daughter-in-law and grandchild? No one had seen that coming, least of all me.

 

We were basically out of food, but Brutus and all my bettors took care of that. I sensed Gale and Katniss nearby; we were again in position at dusk to attack at dawn. I couldn’t sleep and wouldn’t have wanted to anyway. We got a bonus when Rue showed up at sunrise. Excellent! We’ll be Victors before the country even wakes up. Rue was about to hide in the woods again. Glimmer frantically started throwing knives at her. It was inelegant, especially for her and especially for someone who was used to watching Clove and Enobaria, but she got the job done.

 

Katniss would be distraught over we did catch you and kill you’s end. Rue’s last words and Katniss’ last words were both imminent. Rue’s cannon went off and I gave a cue to Glimmer, advancing behind her. “Victory's within the mile - almost there, don't give up now,” I said to Glimmer. Actually, it was within the distance between me and Gale. He couldn’t shoot as well. Katniss had foolishly surrendered the bow to him out of sympathy for the dead little girl. Her corpse already looked readied for burial. I’d press the advantage. We stood proudly, contributing to the finest traditions of our home districts together. I lifted my sword for the final attack and thought _This one’s for you, Dad._


End file.
